(UPDATE) THE United States called on China Saturday (Sunday in Manila) to stop 'provocative and unsafe conduct' in the disputed South China Sea after a recent near-collision with a Philippine Coast Guard boat there, ramping up rhetoric ahead of a visit by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the White House.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, in a statement two days before President Joe Biden is to host Marcos, said the incident was a reminder of China's 'harassment and intimidation' of Philippine vessels in the contested waterway.
This photo taken on April 23, 2023 shows a member of the Philippine coast guard vessel BRP Malabrigo manning his post while being shadowed by a Chinese coast guard ship at Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea. AFP was one of several media outlets invited to join two Philippine Coast Guard boats on a 1,670-kilometre (1,040-mile) patrol of the South China Sea, visiting a dozen islands and reefs. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including the Spratly Islands, ignoring an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis. Ted ALJIBE / AFP
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